Return of the Prodigal Son - Grovelands parkrun #596 - 22/0423

Grovelands Park was originally a more heavily wooded area used for Royal hunting. The estate was purchased by Walker Gray, a Quaker, in 1796, from the 3rd Duke of Chandos and was converted by John Nash and Humphry Repton. Repton, a leading gardener of the time, landscaped the estate by choosing the site of the house, and laying out the gardens, pleasure grounds and carriage drives. He also created an artificial lake, with islands, which forms the main feature of the park. As we approached the start which is situated next to the lake on a clear crisp morning, under the gaze of the house, all its grandeur was apparent and you can see why it’s a Grade II on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. 

In 1911 64 acres of the estate was bought by Southgate Urban District Council for a public park opening in 1913. The main House and its surrounding land was bought by Priory Hospitals Group in 1985 which is separated by iron fencing.  

I grew up in Southgate, on the road Queen Elizabeth’s Drive, which borders the Priory Hospitals Group land which once upon a time was also home to as many as 3 separate tennis clubs. This space, separated from the park by an iron fence, was a veritable wasteland where I spent countless hours of my confused, drifting adolescent years. I wasn’t happy back then and the area still conjures up feelings of sadness and regret for my younger self.

The road I grew up on

We placed our bags at the finish funnel and headed to the start. With my Vaporflys on I had a spring in my step.

We were told how this was a 2.5 lap course and that there was a hill. There was a round of applause for the volunteers and then 3, 2, 1 and we were off. 

The Vaporflys are carbon-plated trainers and they’re unlike anything I’ve ever run in before. They propel you forward and for the first 100m I was leading the pack. Then we reached the bottom of the hill and a chap overtook me and rather than going with him I sought to concentrate on finding my rhythm, always tricky on a hill. After hitting the summit the path gently descended passing by the great house. To my surprise not only had no one else overtaken me but I was closing in on the chap in front of me. As we started the 2nd lap I was right beside him with the Vaporflys giving me extra thrust. I passed him by. I started up the hill where the conversation started with myself. 

Did I dare to think I could come first at a parkrun, let alone the one next to my misspent youth? Could I make this my redemption run, a sign to myself that I was no longer that underachiever from school, sport, or life?

This conversation raged, and fueled something deep in me with the pain from the hill climbs only adding wood to the fire inside. Parkrun isn’t a race it’s a run but you can never know why someone else is running. This morning I was running demons out of me, I was accepting that despite challenges and obstacles in my past I was better than that. I run regularly, I volunteer consistently at my local parkrun and this morning I entered the finish funnel to receive token #1

Token #1!

As I waited for my wife to finish people came and congratulated me on my run, I was taken aback from the amount of attention I was receiving. However post parkrun ‘chat’ is always easy and as we talked I felt a great calm encapsulate me. 

I am not defined by my past identities, mistakes or grievances. This had been a victorious return for the prodigal son and I left feeling reborn. 

Grovelands Parkrun is one of the finest London parkruns, go enjoy and perhaps run out some of your demons. Let me know if you do and how you get on. 

Happy running

www.nuhorizons.uk